I (heart) U!

Still searching for that special valentine for your love?

Tired of giving cliche chocolate or roses or diamonds?

The folks at send.a.message may have just the thing for you.

For about $45, send.a.message will spray paint your special Valentine's message on the concrete walls dividing Israelis and Palestinians.

In return, the group will e-mail you three digital pics.

In its first two months, send.a.message has already spray painted one marriage proposal and one marriage acceptance. (Not the same people, apparently.)

And the imminent arrival of Valentine's Day has generated a surge in requests for the group to spray paint romantic messages on the wall.

"We are overloaded with messages for Valentine's Day," said Faris Arouri, a 26-year-old volunteer with send.a.message.

Nearly a third of the 300 requests so far have been for Valentine's messages, Arouri said.

Along with professions of love, the group has spray painted quotes from Gandhi and Che Guevara. They have written sayings by Nelson Mandela and Menachem Begin. They were even asked by one person to paint a falafel recipe on the wall.

The project, backed by a Dutch marketing company, is meant to provide people from around the world with a unique way to show their support for Palestinians, said Arouri.

"The wall is becoming a canvas for protest, a different kind of resistance and opposition to occupation and the wall itself," said Arouri, who serves as chairman of the Palestinian Peace and Freedom Youth Forum.

The group hopes to use the money it raises to fund small projects in the West Bank, like student basketball courts, gardens and a laundry service for students at Bir Zeit University.

The group will write just about any message you request, though nothing "obscene, offensive or extremist."

"The wall won't fall because your text is written on it," the group says on its Web site. "True. But your message reminds Palestinians trapped inside the Wall that they have not been forgotten. You help to keep hope alive. 'Our' Palestinians want to send you one single, simple message: 'We are human beings, just like you, with a sense of humor and lust for life.' "

Comments

[Hamish Joy]

Gives new meaning to the phrase 'the writing's on the wall'...

[Maya Norton]

Great project, Dion. Thanks for writing about this and bringing it to our attention.

Maya Norton

* Writer, Global Voices Online

* Blogger, The New Jew: Blogging Jewish Philanthropy

[MichaelCecil]

How does one go about paying for painting a message on the wall?

Is there an address to which a check can be sent?

Thanks,

Michael Cecil

[Dion Nissenbaum]

http://www.sendamessage.nl/introduction/